As Gylfi Sigurdsson bent a corner kick from the right flag in the 59th minute, Bale crashed the six-yard box and leaped to meet the ball. The winger, who spent the second half on the left side of midfield and roaming in towards the middle of the field, rose over Dax McCarty as if the Red Bulls midfielder were planted in the ground. Bale's forehead redirected the ball into the upper-left corner of the net, tying the match at 1-1 before Sigurdsson's winner. Villas-Boas substituted Bale 15 minutes after his goal. After the final whistle Bale was named Man of the Match.

Gareth Bale returned tonight to the Tottenham Hotspur lineup, days after a tackle called cowardly in the Spurs camp had the star winger on crutches.

To Spurs' relief, however, Bale floated upfield at Red Bull Arena as part the 4-4-2 alignment to start the exhibition match tonight against the Red Bulls.

The situation had been complicated by the history of incident between Bale and Adam. In May 2011, Adam barged Bale, causing the Spurs winger to miss three months with torn ankle ligaments.

Rafael Marquez did not get the chance to mark Bale from the Red Bulls backline. During stretching before the match, the Red Bulls midfielder and defender felt tightness in his left calf. Moments later, Connor Lade replaced Marquez on the lineup sheet.